Praise
Growing Up Floridian review
In a nostalgic memoir of boyhood, rural roots, and coastal life in mid-century Florida, Michael Arthur Taylor reflects on the timeless lessons, rugged landscapes, and unforgettable memories that shaped a young Floridian coming of age in the 1950s and 1960s.
The author invites readers on a warm, nostalgic journey through the Florida of yesterday with Growing Up Floridian, a personal memoir that captures the grit, wonder, and simplicity of mid-century life in the Sunshine State. Beginning in the rural “Cracker-cowboy” world of his childhood and moving toward the sandy shores of Florida’s west coast, Taylor paints a vivid portrait of a boy discovering who he is through the land, the people, and the lessons that shaped him.
The memoir follows Taylor’s early years in a rugged environment defined by hard work, close-knit community, and the unspoken codes of country living. Those formative experiences—rooted in respect, resilience, and resourcefulness—became the foundation he carried into his teenage years, where he embraced beach life, sun-soaked adventures, and the freedom of coastal living. Through intimate, sharply observed storytelling, Taylor shares the moments that molded him: the mischief, the mistakes, the mentors, and the memories that have stayed with him for a lifetime.
Taylor was inspired to write this memoir as a tribute to a Florida that many remember fondly but few have captured with such authenticity.
“I wanted to preserve the stories that built me,” he explains. “Florida wasn’t just a place—it was a way of life, and those early lessons stayed with me long after boyhood.”
His writing serves both as a personal reflection and a historical snapshot of a state undergoing rapid change. Growing Up Floridian will resonate with readers who appreciate heartfelt Americana, regional history, and coming-of-age narratives grounded in real experience. Taylor’s vivid descriptions bring to life the lush landscapes, rural traditions, and coastal culture that defined mid-century Florida, crafting a memoir that feels both intimate and universal. Early readers praise the storytelling for its warmth, humor, and the way he captures a Florida rarely seen in today’s world.
More than a recollection of childhood, this memoir is a reminder of how place shapes identity—and how the lessons of youth continue to guide individuals through each stage of life. Taylor’s story offers a window into an era marked by simplicity, adventure, and a deep connection to the land he called home. This heartfelt tribute to the people, places, and small defining moments that shaped a generation of Floridians, Growing Up Floridian, invites readers to reflect on their own roots and the memories that made them who they are.
Jim Melvin (author of The Adventures of a Florida Boy):
5.0 out of 5 stars
From Cracker cowboys to coastal dreams
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2025
Michael Taylor’s memoir of his boyhood growing up in Florida’s interior as the son of a “Cracker-cowboy” is an eye-opening chronicle of a bygone era wrought with delights, dangers, and unexpected sorrows. “Growing Up Floridian” is worth the read just to appreciate Taylor’s prose, which is slick, savvy, and highly polished. As the tale continues, the memoir takes a turn to the sea when the boy and his mother move to the west coast of Florida. When you read this book, be sure to pay special attention to its epilogue, which is both profound and inspiring.
Submitted by s11writes@hotmail.com on Thu, Jul 3, 2025
I just finished Growing Up Floridian and loved it. I gave you a 5 star review. Your life made a good story. Thanks.
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2025
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This is a warm and entertaining memoir, filled with delights of nature. The author's childhood adventures remind me of My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. The change in POV for a highly emotional chapter is genius and the latter part of the book is coming of age gold.
Gulfport Author Tells His Rodeo Mama’s Story
Michael Taylor’s mother had a “rodeo romance” with her husband. Pictured here are Taylor’s books, on a table built by his father to frame a hand-tooled leather piece his mother created in 1947.
It may seem like an unlikely story: A young woman from small town Massachusetts takes a job at a dude ranch, marries an aspiring rodeo rider, and follows her cowboy dreams into the Florida sunset.
It happens to be true.
Two new books from Gulfport author Michael Taylor (“Natalie, A New England Girl with Cowboy Dreams” and “Natalie’s Cowboy Dreams Take a Tropical Twist”) chronicle the life of Taylor’s mother, Natalie Gray Taylor Linger, who moved with her husband and two boys to a ranch in Indiantown in 1956. Their rodeo romance – part of a thriving Western culture of dude ranches that flourished across the country in the 1940s and 1950s – wasn’t always easy. The accidental death of Natalie’s son Smokey and divorce from her husband Bill rocked Natalie’s foundations, but she hung on. Reflecting on the story captured in his pages, Taylor muses, “I think she would be proud.”
This isn’t Taylor’s first foray into family history. His 2016 memoir “Growing Up Floridian” chronicles his early life, from cracker cowboy kid in rural Florida to a beach-loving teenager on the Gulf. His new project involved a lot more research, gathering stories from older relatives and reading accounts of everyday life during the World War II era. His investigations lead him to discover some fascinating Florida stories – like tales of Vick and Faye Blackstone, a legendary Florida rodeo duo and the only couple represented both in the national Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Cowboy Hall of Fame –as well as some surprises, including two divorce certificates indicating his parents had divorced not once, but twice.
“Writing gives you a changed sense of yourself, of your family.”
His research also delved into what became one of the real highlights of the Natalie books: dozens of striking photographs of his mother. Each chapter begins with a different image that captures the essence of that moment in her life, and Taylor notes that pairing words and images through the self-publishing platform provided by Amazon Kindle offered one of the most satisfying aspects of the project.
I’m a little envious; as a collector of family stories, I would love to see some of them immortalized in print – triumphs, struggles, and oddball adventures playing out on the page, and connecting my ancestors to the bigger story of life in this country and beyond.
For Taylor, it’s an ongoing process of discovery.
“Writing gives “In the end, Natalie’s is really an amazing story about a woman who went through all kinds of trauma,” he grins. “And still managed to do a good job by me.”
By Amanda Hagood
The Gulfport Gabber January 26, 2022
https://thegabber.com/gulfport-author-tells-his-rodeo-mamas-story/
Sh*t my mom read: Growing Up Floridian by Michael Taylor
Short blurbs about books that you may want to read. None of them are too taxing — more easy, fun reads. Unless they aren't. Don't worry, my mom will let you know if they don't meet her "fun reading" standards.
Cathy Salustri
Jul 20, 2017 12 AM
Courtesy of Michael Taylor
Editor's note: This book by a local author is self-published, which we don't often review at CL. However, I know better to tell my mom no when she likes a book and wants people to know. —CS
Taylor gives an interesting account of how he spent his early years (1950's) in Indiantown, FL. Growing up he learned a lot about animals and nature and worked hard (whippings or slaps on his head taught him to do what he father wanted) with cattle, fences and all the stuff that goes with somewhat undeveloped Florida.
One sad bit: Taylor and his brother were playing with a gun and the brother died.
Another sad bit: His father ends up leaving with another woman and he and his mother moved to Pinellas Park to live with the grandmother.
Just want to read the bits about Tampa Bay? The parts about Pinellas County begin about page 240. He writes about how the Don CeSar was a VA office until 1967, then sat empty for a few years.
Overall: It was enjoyable to read and made you think about how hard a child under 10 had to work at his father's insistence on their ranch.
Growing up Floridian
Michael Taylor
2016. 328 pages.
Available online at Amazon or locally at the Gulfport Beach Bazaar or the Gulfport Historical Society
https://www.cltampa.com/arts-entertainment/words/article/20868177/sht-my-mom-read-growing-up-floridian-by-michael-taylor